The bridge of the "Odyssey" went from quiet, scientific concentration to pure, chaotic panic in about three seconds. One moment, they were carefully waking up a giant, sleepy space-ring.
The next, the space-ring had woken up, was making its own coffee, and had unleashed a whole swarm of very angry, very old robot-wasps.
"Red alert!" Scarlett's voice cut through the noise as she took over the pilot's chair. "All hands to battle stations! Zara, what in the universe are those things?"
"Ancient Precursor defense drones!" Zara yelled back, her hands flying over her console. "Automated security systems! It seems the previous owners did not appreciate people touching their stuff!"
The drones were unlike any enemy they had ever faced. They weren't like pirate ships, which were loud and messy. They weren't like Hegemony ships, which were cold and logical. These things were… alien.
